Brown’s school funding formula lauded, then picked apart at hearing - by John Fensterwald
To a person, every Assemblymember at a committee hearing Tuesday and the six superintendents who testified at it praised the principles behind Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed school finance reforms: simplicity, clarity and equity – more money for the state’s neediest children.
But there were also sharp disagreements over the components of Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula that would determine how much money districts would get were the new finance system phased in over the next seven years, as Brown hopes. At its core, the division was between those favoring the formula as proposed and those arguing that it would give too many extra dollars for English learners and low-income children relative to a base funding amount for all children.
Long Beach Unified Superintendent Chris Steinhauser encouraged approval of Brown’s funding formula as “the right thing to do.”
Christopher Steinhauser, superintendent of Long Beach Unified, an urban district with mostly high-needs students favored by the formula, and John Nickerson, superintendent of Acalanes Union High School District, a 6,000-student district in Contra Costa County with few disadvantaged students, epitomized the different outlooks.
“The governor’s proposal is a great, bold step to bring
No pay to play or learn at public schools - by Kathryn Baron
Public schools must provide the clay used in art class, but they can charge a student for taking home his or her finished sculpture. Playing sports is considered part of the educational mission, so schools have to cover all the costs – including uniforms – but attending a game is just for fun so students can pay admission. And schools can ask – even plead – for donations, but can’t require them...
Try a different tack: Hold teachers responsible for education quality - by Charles Taylor Kerchner / commentary
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed piece I wrote about last week’s school board election, where a coalition of deep-pockets givers spurred by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spent over $63 per vote. It was not only big money but also money badly spent. One point I raised was the crafting of a Democratic alternative to the Republican position on teachers unions, which is largely that they should be...
